12 Ways to Prep Your Car Before Driving in the City

Sian Victoria © - Traffic junction in London

Guide on How to Get Your Car Ready for Urban Driving

Driving in urban areas is entirely another experience when compared to cruising through an open road of the countryside and even through the steady pace of the motorways. The moment you enter the confines of a city in the UK, everything about your surroundings changes dramatically. You will be faced with aggressive drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, traffic lights, bus lanes, low-emission zones, and much more, all in the space of tightly packed roads.

The constant start-stop scenario of urban driving is extremely stressful on your vehicle. It means that your brakes will be worn out quickly, while your cooling system will be pushed beyond its capacity when driving through congested streets, especially during the summer period, and any small problem with your vehicle will be turned into an emergency right away.

So, this is a guide to preparing your vehicle for urban driving by using the twelve tips that follow.

1. Test your battery health frequently

A few kilometres of driving at low speeds through the city is very damaging for the battery. The alternator has no time to recharge the energy spent on starting up the engine due to the short distances driven. After some weeks of driving like this, the battery ends up being continuously discharged, which makes it wear out faster and thus makes you extremely prone to having a flat battery when you need it most.

In order to avoid ending up in the middle of a packed city intersection because of a dead battery, it is advisable that you use a multimeter to check the condition of the battery regularly or get it checked by your mechanic during the annual service of your car. If you experience difficulties when starting the engine, your battery may need changing.

2. Inspect your brake pads and discs

Urban driving is characterised by frequent braking action. Your feet are always switching from the accelerator to the brake pedal while moving through traffic signals, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings, and sudden queues of vehicles. The constant friction causes a large amount of heat, which makes the brake pads and discs wear out more quickly in urban settings than when you are on the motorways commuting long distances.

Be very observant of the early signs of deteriorating brakes, such as squeaking sounds or even grinding noise and sponginess when pressing the brake pedal. Check whether the thickness of your brake pads is sufficient by observing the friction material between the spokes of your wheels. If there is any sign that the material has worn out too much, change them immediately.

3. Maintain optimal tyre pressures

The easiest way to protect your car from damage on city roads is to keep the right tyre pressures recommended by your car manufacturer. City roads are normally littered with potholes, broken pieces of tarmac, and tough speed bumps that may easily bend the wheel rims or lead to a tyre bursting if the tyre pressures are not right.

Tyres that are under-inflated are unable to withstand the shock absorption required to prevent any damage to the tyres' sidewalls and are likely to lead to a significant increase in fuel consumption because of increased rolling resistance. Make sure you check your tyre pressures at least once per month, using a good pressure gauge when the tyres are cold.

4. Keep your engine coolant topped up

Idling in congested urban traffic leaves very little natural airflow moving through the front grill of the engine to help in cooling the engine. When stuck in these kinds of traffic for long periods of time, the car will depend only on the radiator system and the coolant in the engine to cool it from overheating.

It is important that you allow the engine to cool off before heading out into the traffic so that you can check the fluid levels on the translucent plastic radiator reservoir. If you notice the fluid level continually going down, you might have a problem with the radiator hose or the water pump.

5. Verify your compliance with clean air zones

Preparation of your vehicle for city driving is not only concerned with its mechanics but also about dealing with the legal and monetary regulations associated with the urban area. Several major cities in the UK have started implementing clean air zones, including London's Ultra Low Emission Zone and the Clean Air Zones in Birmingham and Bristol. You can expect very expensive fines if you drive your vehicle, which is not eligible to enter such zones and does not pay the daily fee.

Before starting your journey, access the governmental and transport websites where you will be required to enter your vehicle registration and find out whether you are compliant or not. If you are using the old diesel or petrol engine cars that are not compliant enough with the emission standards, you will be required to pay the fine fee.

6. Check your windscreen wipers and wash reservoir

The clearest sightline possible is your number one means of protection against the rapidly moving dangers of an urban environment. Dirt from road spray off of buses and dust from construction sites, along with morning light, can blind you in an instant when your windscreen is dirty.

Make sure that the reservoir on your windscreen wiper contains a good screen washing concentrate as opposed to ordinary tap water, which could freeze during winter or deposit mineral buildup in the spray holes. Also, check your windscreen wipers for any signs of tearing or splitting, as well as smearing of your screen.

Sian Victoria © - Driving along a road

7. Learn to look for tyre tread depth

Your tyres are the only point where the vehicle comes into contact with the ground; hence, the importance of the state of your tyres. The minimum legal tread depth for UK roads is one point six millimetres; however, tyres with higher tread have far better grip if an emergency stop becomes necessary on wet and greasy urban asphalt roads.

Darren from Elite Direct says the test of your tread depth is easy – place a twenty pence coin into the grooves of your tyre. When the outer ring of the coin is not visible at all, then your treads are well within the legal requirement; if the outer ring is visible, then your tyres are dangerously worn and should be replaced immediately.

8. Change your engine oil and filter regularly

Since the frequent stops and starts in the urban environment mean that the engine is operated at less-than-ideal operating temperature most of the time, moisture and residual fuel might settle into the engine and dilute the engine oil. For this reason, it is of the highest importance to regularly change your car’s oil when driving through cities.

It is highly recommended to check your engine oil levels using a dipstick at least once every two weeks. Make sure that the amber-colored oil lies neatly between the marks on the dipstick. If you drive within the city limits for shorter distances, it may be reasonable to shorten oil change frequency to half a year or every five thousand miles.

9. Test every single exterior light

Driving through difficult city junctions necessitates effective and clear communication with all other road users. If your brake lights are broken or the turn signals do not blink when you intend to indicate a turn or reduction in speed, the motorists behind you will not know what you are doing, thus leading to unnecessary rear-end accidents.

To prevent this, activate your hazard lights and inspect your vehicle from outside to make sure all lights – including turn signals, headlights, side lights, and fog lights – work perfectly fine. To check your brake lights on your own, position your car near a mirror-like window of a building and observe whether both lights are well lit in the mirror.

10. Clear out unnecessary cabin clutter

Large vehicles need much more effort to accelerate and time to fully come to a stop. Having your boots full of used-up sports equipment, heavy tools, and even roof racks in your car increases the unnecessary load on your vehicle that greatly impacts your fuel efficiency while driving in urban traffic conditions.

Spend twenty minutes clearing out everything you do not need from your car’s interior and boot area. Being organised and having your car interior neat with only the essential accessories will help you avoid the risk of something moving in the process of emergency braking.

11. Upgrade your cabin air filter

In the event that you find yourself in a lengthy queue in the middle of the city, your car will be positioned directly behind the exhausts of buses, lorries and old diesel cars. The ventilation system works by sucking the extremely polluted air into your passenger cabin.

The first thing that you have in order to shield yourself from these pollutants is the cabin air filter, which is also referred to as a pollen filter. The pollen filter eventually gets blocked with organic matter, soot and dust, and this makes it difficult for air to flow and also allows unpleasant exhaust fumes to penetrate into your car.

12. Assemble an urban emergency kit

Even the best-maintained cars can face an unexpected puncture or an unforeseen electrical malfunction. Stranding yourself in an urban environment is definitely not an enjoyable experience, which is why having a small but effective emergency kit in your trunk is absolutely essential to ensure your safety.

The kit should consist of a flashlight, a jacket that will help the driver become visible to others in case you need to leave the car, a first aid kit, and a robust pair of jumper cables. Another very sensible thing to do would be to check if the tyre repair kit or spare wheel components are included and working properly before leaving the city.

To conclude

Getting your car ready for the unique difficulties posed by city driving does not necessarily require complex mechanical knowledge, but it does need persistence and preparedness. City driving is tough on car components, turning seemingly insignificant problems such as an old battery or slightly deflated tyres into emergencies that bring traffic to a halt and incur expensive repairs.

When systematically following all these tips, you will greatly increase your car's reliability, raise your safety level and reduce your daily expenses. So, make sure that everything is alright with your car before heading towards the city centre, stay calm amid the heavy traffic, and you’ll have a much better time city driving.